Board of Education Meeting

001so i' like to call order this regular meeting of the Board of Education this Wednesday May 22nd so everyone is here except our friend Robert fighting traffic will be your pres and of the EX Team here would you [Music] Unice so we EST here on this way we're going to move to the representative have hi I have a real microphone this time um I kind of have a lot of updates with the end of the school year coming there's a lot of like end of year ceremonies and announcements so first of all a exams ran at the high school from May 6th to May 17th those are all over now except some people doing makeup exams this week but AP classes are still in the middle of end of your project and assignments even though

002contest is over last night was the banding chorus spring concert and banding chorus is also going to Virginia Beach on May 31st to compete there this Friday is senior prom it's a PLC day so students are leaving early from school regardless and it's going to be at the water View and mo room there's a lot going on for seniors of course uh we had a disussion day on May 15th so seniors wore a gear from the college that they're committed to and this week is senior spirit week so we're doing a couple different themes we're doing anything but a backpack barbecue dads and soccer moms country vers Country Club senior citizens and 7s seniors also have final exams from the 10th through the 13th while everyone else has their final exams from the 13th through

003the 18th I've got a bunch of updates from Mr Baldwin for athletics tonight is the team s swc championship game I think it's happening right now Madison Kelly and Cindy zesu won their doubles SCBT championship for girls tennis CIA state championships start at the end of this week and next week girls tennis is starting Saturday at 2:00 at the high school baseball softball girls lacrosse boys lacrosse boys track and field and girls track and field will all compete in state championship tournaments and events on Tuesday girls golf state championship will be on June 5th new CIA rules are allowing coaches to coach over the summer Vanessa Greenstein presented at the Connecticut Association of schools as the state representative of the C athletic advisory yesterday we thank Vanessa for her hard work on the state committee

004and help make positive change across the state tomorrow is a woman in leadership conference 27 female student athletes from high school will be attending next week Ava wouth will present at the Connecticut Association of schools as a member of the cic state the quality we thank Ava for her hard work on the state committee and to helping positive change at all schools next week athletic advisory officers are going to whir to speak with some whir middle school students and talk to them about what it's like to be a high school athlete and Bal Athletics and school and how to get involved in some clubs high school on Monday of this week 70 High School athletic advisory members ran field days at CES for grades 8 through 2 and at bfield high school for grades three

0053 through 5 it was a great day and in early June there's going to be a meet the coaches night for the incoming profession of athlet finally some updates for a couple of clubs that I'm a part of or that have some current events going on first I wanted to talk about American Cancer societ I'm not a part of this club but they held a Relay for Life event this past weekend so that was a fundraising walk for cancer to raise money celebrate cancer survivors and honor those who died from the disease I was a volunteered through dance team so we hosted a couple sessions of Zumba a bunch of other clubs from the high school were there hosting different stations so French honors sings there cheer a couple other clubs at the high school

006and a lot of students volunteered individually doing things such as face paint hand of tattoos and helping to set up our commun the event was very successful and raised over $10,000 to go towards the American Cancer Society in their fight against this disease finally I have a couple updates about National Honor Society we held our Mother's Day 5K on May 12th this was a great event with record donations and record participation so it went really well and we a total of $13,300 to be donated to Connecticut Children's Hospital and it just also had the their induction on Monday night for all the rising seniors who will be a part of the group this coming year so there's a tradition that each senior member who's currently in the club will give a speech to one of

007the inde deputies so we did that that's always a great tradition um seniors received their cords for graduation from NHS and similarly Spanish Society will be inducting their new MERS and that is everything than you we change item to the student spotl and the trip to France report ahead of public com [Music] so Dr Young I'd like to introduce drasi has a few words to say before the Wind Ensemble demonstrate their prow thank you previously this year our Advanced Wind Ensemble band had the opportunity to present their music to a representative of the Connecticut music educators Association our students were evaluated across five categories tone quality intonation Rhythm technique and musicality additional evaluations included stage presence discipline and posture ensembles are awarded aerk score from 1 to 100 and an overall rating of poor Fair

008good excellent or Superior do you remember what you guys got it is with great pleasure that I share with you that the 2024 canell Lake Elementary School Wind Ensemble receive a superior rating with an average numerical score of 87 point in addition to distinguished honors for discipline I am thr to introduce Wes March our band director and the 2024 cwood Lake Elementary School wind ensom [Applause] please stand for the playing of our national anthem and remove all PS [Music] la [Applause] [Music] all [Applause] [Music] [Applause] we have one more selection for you you may be seated this selection comes from our portraits of America concert presentation that we did earlier this month this particular portrait of America comes from the Grand Canyon and portrays the H and victory of a red hawk Falcon we hope

009you enjoy red hwk [Music] the [Music] [Applause] [Music] a [Music] and [Music] [Applause] [Music] w all right as everybody exits our parents of our CS students exit have a great night everybody thank you for being here great job congrats thank you very much I'd like to bring up uh some select wonderful students who uh studying the French language um between Middle School and High School AG at this point along with Mr Rego and Mr Johnson recently returned oh too and recently I didn't see you over there um recent STP have returned and are going to share uh some of their experiences and some of the pictures so cther we want to start us out introduce the students excitement from our trip which come back and just stay there um so hopefully we'll have this continuing

010in the future we wanted to share with you okay so I'm going to take you a quick click through our slides to give an idea of where we went and what we did um and then more importantly best part is we're going to hear from three of our students who were on Tri with us um you may recall last year around April breade we had students from France come and we hosted them here for the week and then this year was our chance to go out to them um so we were in Paris for 2 days one night and then we traveled down towards southern France and stayed in in St mine right outside of San TR to you idea where we were so here we were getting ready to depart lots of kids that

011you can see it was a full bus we took um it was 47 total five CH rooms 42 students parents missing us already with Mr Renda little ARA that they sent us while we were on the bus uh and then we made it into Paris we had a nice overnight flight so we were all really tired but we hit the ground running and we went straight to the eiel tower after dropping off our bags uh it was beautiful there it's usually really rainy and cloudy in uh Paris and it was nice that first day there uh but we then hopped on one of these boats and we're able to see a lot of the attractions from the river our friends there uh we also got to see the Cathedral of notra still closed soon to

012be open but it was still beautiful from the outside transportation that parid probably tell you they love the Metro no they got to learn how to use the Metro we like nine times is really it's a lot you have to get on really quickly um so the kids were awesome with that and got to travel like true regions get a lovely dinner and spend a lot of time at the getting some chm and other sweet treats uh and we saw the D where they have a ton of just paintings sculptures Etc that the students were able to take in the AR vion and then some fun shopping as well happen that day and was Prett much all possible thank to a grant that we received from the bef so we just wanted to give them

013some recognition here as well um and a big single food very much just again all those cult activities by so thank you and we made our way I like this image kind of increased off with the slide but really we took the tgb train um from uh Paris down to ton and then a bus ton into the St Maxi Coan area and with our families and then we had a lovely welcoming presentation at the school we were staying at um you can see that they had the the slideshow from last year with some of their images uh still thinking about their time here at Wier school and in Brookfield in general and we're welcoming to us had a barbecue and all we then spent the day at the river aren KS could kayak we hiked

014what we day outside to B with some of their um French students we also saw the r American cemetery so that's um morial and cemeter ATS in honor of World War II that was selected for its historic location along the grout of the US seven Army Drive of the rone valley um so that was established back in 1944 um after the Army surprise Landing in southern France so that's an drug in the about 40 minutes out from where our school was um and you can see the kids were there they got to hear a tour in English and French um and honestly it's just it was a really beautiful site and not one that you would think was there so it was a really interesting experience and then came all the class Shadow Days you

015can see here a mix of kids in classes um they did science they were doing Maps they spoke English and French and Spanish and all the different things so they really enjoyed seeing what classes looked like in France uh cell phones were banded that was an interesting experience for them uh PE classes looked a little bit like this they walked off site most times and then took place in things like Ping Pong different activities and have a whole Rock Ling wall and we had some other excursions so we can call along we went on a nice hike uh through the woods and up to a nice Church in St Maxine they were a little closer to the beach so they spent the day there uh the kids found out there's an amusement park going on

016nearby so they went to that kind of Carnival and had a lot of fun there um towards one of the last nights that we were there and then it was time to come home all had enough but I was um I'm going to now that's um called some students so first is going to be lien and she's going to tell you a little bit about uh some of the cultural differences or similarities that were noticed in places like the school home or Transportation some language skills um that were improved upon or learned and a little bit about why this should continue uh and that little part of the trip so I'll give it over to hello I'm I'm an um when I went on the uh so cultural differences were the class sizes were a

017lot smaller so we were being room with nth graders and there were about 18 kids in that entire grade so the class was very small um they had a 2our lunch break so it would be like 30 minutes eting and then you would just hang out outside play soccer volleyball for like an hour and a half um and they got to scho at 8 in the morning and they didn't leave until the afternoon inil in a we ate about 10:00 at for dinner each early um and then something different from our house we an apartment and the dad didn't have a in our house he slept on the couch so that each of his daugh have their own separate bedroom and that was very so the train we took a train from parents to our

018and seats uh so with the language I Improv so they say for yes but how say yeah yes they say which I learned that there and then um sa means like how are you doing they say that at the end of a lot of so they'll tell you about you so I was able to understand a lot because a lot of people engl um so it wasn't very difficult but when they did speak French I take French for years I be able to understand a lot of what theying I think this exchange should continue because it's a great experience learn about a different culture and um it's just like you're never going to have this experience again life you get to go to another country with a bunch of your friends to meet a bunch

019of new prob me to stay friends with for the rest of your life um and then same thing for them coming here it's am my most me memorable part about the trip was how Scenic it was there it was amazing everywhere you went you could take a picture you just wanted to stay there forever it was um thank you guys for making this trip happen thank you to all the teachers and thank you to my parents for paying for it um Avery is going to come speak to us next again some of those differences language skills she learned and why she good evening everyone um I experienced many cultural differences there but one main thing I experienced was that my family three different languages since they are from so they were able to speak dut

020fren um so like the siblings would speak French to each other but table they would all speak to other um many dut words are very similar to English words but they sound very different as well um but what was also common in France is that if you had something to do in of like going to like a sports event or going to event you they're very work oriented like they are here in America so my girl hadb but Sheed she had a brush because she had so her um they really care so it was kind of cool to see that America [Music] especially um they really they ate very early because they Dutch which is really different from French since they ate around like 10:00 at night so L had that experience but I had

021a very experience there many language barriers because I speak Spanish Spanish um so I would use our if I don't understand anything or use single languish a lot of them didn't understand English or I was just us French to name I take French outside school since I going to France I had no um I connected with my family actually very well since they all spoke English but they didn't really knows English SS so was to teach them English words and they were teaching Dutch words but they teach engl words um I also was able to help them with their studies they took they were taking classes that took so to experence that um I was able to learn about very different Lifestyles there and lives but I was also taught that life is much bigger

022here than it's America and I didn't know that but it was really cool to experience that since it was like a very likeing EXP I did have many favor of course was really great I had many pastries and frch dishes my French father was Che so really cool and I also just enjoyed spending time with my family they were really fun to talk to you and and one of my most memorable experiences was just Hest eting dinner at their table talking about what I they' experienced and what I exper um my student went to America last year so really CL how she experienced year and how I thank [Applause] you and last least [Music] fromell my and I'll be speaking to you about cultural differences language some cultural differences especially the houses they were smaller

023they ceramic and could overall was very nice they they very [Music] accomodating very different also um even though all the differ even though our whole our life is still pretty similar and we get my language skills improve significantly in the beginning I was able to pick up on some words and English my English um by the end of the trip I was able to understand and have conversation with my family and able to it was really fun um sometimes I even tried to speak French before I English the most memor part of my trip was definitely what during the weekends where we got to go family and didn't have to stay late School uh overall it was nice we went to the beach one day and one day went to party with Bas culture also

024great even though they didn't it very about it you really got to see it in the build themselves conclus ship was very useful for me and especially others as we got to learn more understand history ex continue learn [Applause] so that wraps everything up from our trip and we are excited to continue partnership with the school um they have confirmed that they have funds to come back to us again next year so Mr G and I were already on the phone this afternoon trying to select dates for when they will come thank you everybody for [Applause] your you need ch great and and thank you to the bef for the support um and to the school um School Personnel who helped with that as well parents great opportunity talk about how to bring passion into

025more aspects of SCH interact expen okay so's [Music] move at the start of meeting a maximum of minutes ised comment on item ined on the agenda for that meeting at the end each meeting um Regular meeting ow comment items within the jurisdiction um for uh which would also include a Time disc students inders of K 45 West Road I ask the board to not approve the May 1st 2024 facilities meeting minutes the vote to dispose the agent Huckleberry kitchen equipment is prematur to shortsighted there are several groups in town that want to build a new concession stand trades and businesses have pledged to donate time and materials to make this happen the current concession stand is outdated and has been Opera past its useful life to prove it is pass its useful life the announcement

026gr on top of the concession stand is the decommission and a new one installed by the main stadium features many parents including myself and some sitting at this table have spent hours working get concessions during football games to raise money for our respective sports teams a lot of time spent setting up for these games all cooking gear must be pulled out of the concession stand and set up outside once the game is over all equipment is carried back into the concession stand this is inefficient labor labor system schools like Weston beille New Fairfield and Nas have concession stand that are modern and easy to open and operate Brookfield needs something better in the recent NEC and CIA review stated in their summary accommodations the Community Partnerships that support student athletes as the athletic and the

027athletic program the meeting notes prove how this District another town and entities are Sil we are one town and all the money is our tax dollars at work if the Boe is worried about storage fees was offer to store for free the former Finance director rejected that offer it' be Penny wise and dollar foolish for our B to dispose the was $200,000 thank thank you um also um I'm going to request the bo first meeting minutes without making a correction ex referenced for motion to discuss attorney plan information to comply with that law and as trained board was trained on April by former attorney turn you have to State the case or matter so that needs to be corrected in doing so made that item not protected and not accepted of that discussion similarly we

028have an exective session vote part of that is to discuss pending liation see to go into session and speak about what you need to State the case matter um additionally evaluation ex session send email May might there is um merging information regarding the ability to hire and manage Personnel of course example prior special education director in terms of confidency of hiring but also elbow attempt to hire backs Vice and how that went um at the town meeting there was a discussion about special education violations had a hiring placement that was not competent additionally learn that there is a teacher that had lied about the qualifications place as an elementary school teacher and the administration didn't check on the transcript to have a file this person okay and that person has not qualified teaching so a

029lot of this goes to the competency of selecting Co compid hiring person manag decisions time been having senior Administration same for years should that should ref in evaluation and that person that qualifications concerned because there there's a conflict of interest because there Democratic thank you thank you Mr moving on to item seven on the agenda the following people have emailed a board of since our last meeting on consideration intertial question s facce c ter regalan Jack C for5 school year 1 12 I move that the board approve the minutes below as recomended meeting 5124 meeting thank you Wendy i' like to first uh start with congratulating the board on passing the referendum moving forward with our close out this year and school year uh for next year uh with real rigor and focus so we're

030really excited about that um kindergarten L just very brief update uh we currently I just checked with drasi today we have 119 students registered for kindergarten at this time um 17 of which parents have signed up with Dr PSAs and the team for the waiver because their birthdays after September 1 we have that new legislation kicking in the next school year um last year at this time we had 120 students registered and we're looking anticipating the same number in that low to mid 160 range so we we right on track um and of course we talk about class size um and we have our budget uh Dr Pepi and the team really do take a look at class sizes at all grade levels and see where there might be changing needs and evolving circumstances where

031they might move one section up or down in addition to some of the things we talked about the early in the budget process uh we certainly will keep the board apprised if there are any adjustments in uh new vehical Services shipment and goodwi was selected by the board back on May 8th and with that the executive team and principles met with our new attorneys and had a transition meeting just yesterday morning uh that went quite well we also talked about the policy Services uh with the poliy committee earlier this evening uh and we're excited about working forward in that new relationship honor and educator again just like the prin trip I want to thank the Brookfield Education Foundation they put on the honor and educator celebration last week where we recognize all Educators not just

032our teachers but our Paras our bus drivers secretaries anybody who contributes to the well-being and education of our children it was a great turnout and I just can't thank them enough for annually putting that together for all of us um let's see the it's that time of year for other celebrations so Western Connecticut superintendent Awards we have two students Andi High School who were recognized on Monday afternoon I want to thank Dr man for attending that principles um so we're really happy and thrilled for our students who were honored in that way also uh Senator Bloom invol his Proclamation and certificates for them as well and then the two things that AA did mention um I do want to say we attend the National Honor Society induction with the high school on Monday Night 40

033plus students new students were inducted into the uh into the society and we're just so excited for them they really worked so hard and really earned it and deserve uh that kind of recognition and to hear the stories of each of the inductees really inspiring and then finally just a quick thank you to everybody help field day on for our C Lake students um as we know some stay here others go to the uh High School Fields as a kind of a new tradition the last couple of years I to thank the PE staff and Mr Baldwin along with parent volunteers and certainly are pfield high school student AES from the uh student advisory council did a great job for that that's my report anybody have any questions okay thank you good evening uh you

034met May first um uh we took a walking tour of the facility to uh take a look at um the school we start the storage container The Boiler Room the locker rooms uh storage IDE we um we did need to discuss a container kitchen equipment um and we did speak about whether or not was use funds continue paying for it or disos it to did explain to us information basically that project been Ono I off so to speak I know it's you guys as well just see there all time I know toy they can make use of it at the time we did take a walk down to the boiler rooms um then a great job of explaining uh all the issues that we had unfortunately we're working with very old and all with so

035that some of the parts that are needed AR anymore and the issues that he skill fixed on its own um aren't going to last very long you mention possib um boil one and boil two possibly I believe one of them under repair right and one might clarify boiler one we've been talking about um the last couple of months this is the one that is um Tonto has flange being made currently and that's one prelimary work to bring the cost from anywhere from 27,000 down 3000 exctly so um so that one is going to be operable very soon boiler number two uh that uh has been operating and beating the building is at BHS um the lot you know this winter season um is leaking it's an exterior leak so it is it's spewing um water

036water out of the furnace not going inside working it's just um leaking um and so it doesn't need to be repair boiler number three these are all the same types of boilers they are towards the end of their useful life and they are not being manufactured anymore but poer number three which has been offline for several years does have components within it that can be used sort of as a um to harvest yeah to harvest and repurpose some of those um interior components to fix boiler Tu so we do think that there's to get boiler to operable um certainly for next even season we do use um the boilers and the oil um oil heat to um heat the hot water all year long so we do need a boiler running even in the cooling

037season um and Mr cell is also looking at um converting our hot water system to a more energy efficient water electric demand um system really as large as the one that we have and eliminate the need for oil uh during the cooling season um just to get get a general idea the boilers uh burn I think four 40 gallons of oil an hour something eal it is huge it is is a huge um uh yeah a large amount and it's so we're looking to improve the efficiency on the hot water system itself which get um and then we as far as all business we discussed capital projects update called for a circuit um WS electrical system upgrade we has not receiv yet um we have to schedule the time with st a 3 shut down

038of services building so that's something that's on Horizon likely take place over the summer and then coordination take place some programs the for ws and BHS have ordered will be installed uh before the start of my school year and that's all I have for before we move on can I suggestion I don't know um if I can make just one uh one comment about all the conversation of boilers and um some people may be wondering heck fix these boilers get some new boilers um since last October for quite a while um we had lots of capital Improvement plans that get approved through the town um they take not only time to get approved but years to implement and install and or fix um and we're well aware of those the energy now that the school

039this school is complete is really getting focused not only in an operating uh maintenance account that just passed um for making sure we're maintaining our facilities of whiner and the high school and updating anything we can with uh in cash if you will um but also Casey put a very detailed plan together after the building condition study back in October presented that to the board that's public information um and on multiple occasions we've been setting out communication that our energy is going into continuing not that energy wasn't going into it in the past but even more energy and focusing on improving the middle of high school so um we all wanted to be optimal and so we just got to continue working on that at the same time you have to finance your your goals

040you can't do everything in one year not only do we not have the money for that we don't necessarily the capacity to improve everything in one year so Contin but thanks for app just remind us where was that in the capital plan the priority I don't remember you mention I just brought up the 10 Capital plan um so we actually have a boiler replacement at whir uh that was the recommended priority through the mar building condition study um BHS did not have any recommended um replacement of boilers in the near future um but as we can see things change um and priorities that have to shift so in our Capital plan we do have those year one fortunately that you field to get approved so all of our PRI year one priority projects have been

041approved for next year we will certainly will get moving um a boiler replacement system for VHS up on the priority list for probably a year or two um or year or three we we get uh how Fe it is to prepare this Bo or to Mr is confident you can get that back up the running um the problem is you just don't know when when when it's going to the end um and uh so we will shift and we will adjust and Mr confident that we will have the Condy in the system to have the two boilers operable and functioning for the next okay let's move then to the finance sub committee pleas uh we met on Wednesday the 15th um and both of the major items that we discussed are also uh agenda items

042tonight so I won't go into too much detail um but we did go over the April financials um we reviewed um that the projected net budget shortfall for this year is 67432 that's a small change from last month um and this was due to special education month to month so that's where we see change this particular month and we voted as a committee um to have the board request those contingency fund from the town these are agreed upon um expenses on the side so see on the agenda tonight to request we then just discussed went over again the list of um items that will be cut if the referendum was approved or referendum so um those are the same things that we've been discussing here and are familiar with you guys so that was that

043pretty much it are there any questions or discusss approve itent agenda new hires transfers retirement would be okay if I welcome in our new all right so our new HR supervisor please stand lindsy Mareno welcome more welome Lindsay will be starting the first week of June we're really excited to have Lindsay join the team and Lindsay comes to us from new a lot of experience there last couple of years and we just uh really excited about her energy and know how and willingness and openness to learn and become part of the team um and HR is really really important um talking about 400 plus employees coaches Etc we have a lot of people with a lot of needs um and certainly Michelle Kinsman has been main state with us as our benefits and Human Resources

044coordinator and now having the supervisor here at Lindsay thr than we have oh yes how we forget Mr G G long time psychologist has been with many many years um and uh he is decided to retire and he is moving on to Maine so we're really excited he's really interested in a very cold area of the country I don't know how you can retire main God bless them it is beautiful in summer at least I'll give it that um but anyway we wish Camp all the best and thank you for that reminder when my apologies then we are moving on to move on to um new business and the first item is special education strategic plan so thank you Dr Young BL uh thank you to members of the board Dr gr Dr M di

045uh members of the audience and who are also part of what I'm about to speak about so as I come to the end of my first year in burfield one of the ongoing projects that we've spoken about in my updates to you at the previous board during the past year was a strategic plan framework and I emphasize that this is a framework that as we we talk about things like curriculum s uh and and plans that go for 3 to 5 years these are the ideas and the theories of action I'd like to speak about tonight that we are going to be working on as part of a working group I'm giving away a lot of my slides by just uh talking about what you're about to see but before I begin I'd like to

046thank uh members of the committee that are here tonight would you please stand if you are part of the committee I'd like to read off the names uh Taran fer uh Daren Fontana is not with us this evening wife uh is expecting so she is not with us this evening uh man andronic Hi man thank you de caban promised that if I had promised it that would not speak tonight so you didn't speak I'm speaking forus Judy sandor gr triet Molly Garcia Cory raffy and Mike skele those are the members that have started with us this year and have done a a tremendous job as you see the um the plan that we put together in the framework so I just like to say thank you to them and and we can just give a

047round of applause I appreciate you being here and for the folks that aren't here tonight that might be watching on YouTube thank you also for the time and the commitment You' shown to us throughout this process so before I get into sort of the theories of action i' just like to talk about how we've gathered information and how we've gathered feedback over the course of the year we've had strategic planning meetings you've met members of the committee we've also spoken in septo meetings and gathered feedback from special at PTO Mar m president uh District leadership meetings where I would meet with uh the principles and Dr Brill and the central office team also it's not really quantifiable but it goes without saying that the parent feedback that I've gain over the course of this first

048year has been invaluable whether it's parents reaching out to me through phone calls or emails as I've said over the course of many presentation please reach out to me if you have a thought or a concern or something that you'd like me to consider much of this information is also from those parents that reached out to me some of them are here this evening and I thank them for their for their collaboration and their uh consultation with us emails team meetings so in some cases after pbts parents might want to talk about just by get information from I say we're doing strategic plan what thoughts are on your on your mind concerning special education in for field through all of those methods of communication this is what we have as a framework and I wanted

049to lead with that so that you kind of know where the where the the thoughts come from so as you know the presentations I've given over the course of the year have all stemmed from the correct report that Dr uh presented to you just about a year ago and um in Consulting with her and working through this strategic planning framework um I wanted to make sure that we kept the spirit of what her recommendations were and how she framed it so the foundation of our strategic planning framework and our areas of focus and our ACs of focus will fall under the same four domains as the correct report did resources organizational processes student learning and communication and collaboration and that allows us to connect the dots as it were from the correct program review to

050our own District work over the next several years within special education many times you will see in strategic plans uh a single theory of action uh conversations with the committee and just in uh my own research and background looking at other uh strategic plans including um Dr Cor plan in region 10 I thought for a theory of action we shouldn't have one theory of action we should have three and the reason I say it is they are all important components of why we do what we do so what I'd like to show you tonight are our three theories of action as we move forward on the Strategic plan our theory of action for students if students are provided with high quality instruction and inclusive settings and inclusive settings means all inclusive settings not just the

051classroom but throughout the school activities extracurricular inclusive means all School settings for us then they will have increased confidence in their identities as lifelong Learners and be prepared for postsecondary education employment and civic participation this is crucial and and really the foundation of why we do what we do we do what we do for students we need to know and to be able to speak to how we do it and why we do it and so in terms terms of speaking with staff speaking with parents and speaking with students to be included whether that's in a classroom in in a co-taught setting or getting support getting instructional support being included on a team uh being included in Unified sports being included in any sort of activity throughout our district that brings students together so with

052our theory of action around students this is what we are thinking in terms of when we provide these things things they will have increased confidence and they will become lifelong Learners and be prepared to Take On The World of adult living and adult success my second theory of action families and again it speaks to um the conversations I've had and the pdts I've been in uh septo meetings and just conversations with with parents about how they feel about special education as parents and you know we talk to parents at pbts and maybe we see them at at events but when we talk about the relationship between a parent and a child and the district and the children that we work with we have to remember that if families are provided engagement and collaboration opportunities that

053allow us to plan together for students with and without disabilities again inclusion and to share concerns then they will feel that their input is solicited early in aice and is value and we need to be able to articulate that to to not necessarily quantify it but to make it real and to make it seen and visible in the work that we do going forward so I thank the families that have helped us to um instruct that particular therapy of action and finally for the the people that that are our team every day they come to school and they are they are parents they are teachers all our instructional supports that we have in our buildings theory of action for educators if educators are provided with relevant and meaningful professional development and I emphasize meaningful because

054as I've said in our previous presentation sometimes if you are in if you have had and I have experienced it in other districts professional development that you don't think moves you forward as an educator then it's not going to be able to be used with the students you work so it has to be relevant and meaningful for the teachers in order to make it relevant and meaningful for the students frequent opportunities for collaboration whether that's department meetings um team meetings uh even you know strategic plan committee meetings to be able to cross buildings and be able to talk to each other and Leadership supportive of inclusion from principles to directors to all of us that work in the district responsive to the needs then they will apply their learning within the classroom that needs to

055be reinforced that needs to be shown and that needs to be part of our professional development plan going forward that it needs to be meaningful and inclusion is the recurrent theme Here that as we include all of our students every area of the plan that we're going to talk about tonight comes from these three theories of action what is this going to look like in terms of how we roll this out and in front of you you have a folder with the four domains and the um areas of focus and the action steps it's very dense I'd like to go into a little bit of it tonight but I also want to offer myself to be able to speak uh again at the board meeting perhaps even next month work over the summer to start

056talking about the details of what this is going to look like the first phase of what this is going to look like includes our the team that we have here tonight a strategic planed worker these will be monthly meetings beginning in Fall 2024 as you can see in the plan that you have in front of you that I'll show up on the screen in a minute these are plans that are 3 to 5 years in execution planning implementing Andie making sure that we're doing quality control along the way there will be Lo thingss that will include parents that will include School staff that will include all the folks that you see with us tonight in addition to anyone who might be interested in joining us on this journey they are the current committee members new

057members are welcome and again I have the podium literally so I can say if you are interested in joining us on this journey please feel free to email or call uh Tso and make sure you reach out to me and I'm happy to include you in future meetings as I've done over the course of this year um sometimes more than quarterly but certainly quarterly updates on where this is going where we are data we've gathered uh updates what's working well what's not working what we need more time and again as I spoke about in terms of a model for this it's like a curriculum writing cycle where there's a 3E cycle of planning implementation and and reviewing and ongoing there um um so now going to watch me go this this um in front of

058you you uh Ford has the Strategic plan and as you can see the first page has us mapped out into four domains and what we have are the collaborators that worked on these that were the point people to get us started and again Mike skell and Le and white were the point people for resources Molly Garcia rery for organizational processes student learning fret and triet R furus Amanda and Deb Cav still not going to make you speak and Judy sand and communication collaboration our supervisor Mon and Taran I'm going down now again for those of you who are here and even watching at home it's fa against I want to be succinct tonight I don't want to get too dense into to detail but I'd like to take at least one or two sections and

059kind of walk you through the elements of it we have action steps we have indicators of success the resources we may use which again is going to be very be changeable based on our conversations and our um these assessments that we'll be doing ongo and then the timeline of constructing planning and Implement so in terms of resources um one thing I'd like to talk about is the relationships that we have in the building between classroom teachers special education teachers and parent Educators and I think when we look at how this is going to look longterm and what does success look like for this particular line in the plan the working group but also setting aligned standards throughout each building where we have collaborative meetings across all three buildings um facilitating inclusive practices review uh a

060couple weeks ago I was speaking with Jody man at Advance to follow through on our IEP quality training with IEP Audits and professional training in those areas um best practices for determining co- teing team these are things that we need to not just put a stamp on or a grant out and say there it is it's done but to actually look at what does that look like if any of you walk into the building and ask about what that should look like we should be able to show you we should be able to give you examples of it both in classrooms and in beings um entry and exit criteria for some of our specialized programs for our more needy students operationalizing measures to gain Student Success in general education again for inclusion and a guiding

061document C for a a power to guide the decision making of what does when does student need par and what does that look like and again I can't emphasize enough that there is individualized education plans for reason their individualized however there are ways that we can operationalize quantify and set standards and processes and systems instructions across the schools um just to speak to I don't want to spend I don't want to take up too much of the the board's time but organizational processes um you know one of them is to develop a strategic plan I won't specialize and talk about that but I'd like to speak about accessible departmental needs and communication structure one of the things that that we as a committee and in District leadership have learned this year is in order to

062align practices and structur and systems across building there needs to be more frequent collaboration instead of individual Department beings with an occasional group there should be ongoing mixing of the from each School talk about not just transition of students from one school to the other talk about inclusion practices talk about what works what doesn't work and how we can align our process in each building um and again if you look at um the timelines all of these we have mapped out over a 3year time frame that does not mean you're only going to see me up here once a year these again are going to be quarterly updated to be able to speak to where we're at in terms of progress of this um again student learning I'd like to take just maybe one um

063looking at the policies and procedures manual which you know in a lot of districts we've looked at since new laws and pment and CT C has come in some of the policies and procedures that may have worked have been in place 5 years ago 2 years ago 3 years ago need to be reviewed that's where we're at for a strategic plan Committee in terms of looking at that um um being able to specify resources guidelines entry and exit criteria and training making sure that all staff that work with our needest students or even who work in areas of instructional support are more familiar with processes including decoding and encoding um behavioral strategies Behavior plans ecda practices and things like that that help students on a daily basis and finally communication and collaboration being able to

064have cohesive meetings between secondary buildings again I spoke about the monthly department meetings office hours on teacher directed Wednesday so that we can collaborate in that fashion and again meetings for the whole year and mapping out what we're doing at each meeting rather than having a department meeting every month that sort of reviews where we're at there should be as clear of a plan for our department meetings throughout the year as there are in the Strategic plan and again as we move on details will be filled in you will be apprised of these situations and we will be able to work together as a team I have felt so supported by both the previous board and by you and allowing me to uh have the privilege to come up and speak to you frequently about

065where we're at and we all know that change doesn't happen overnight but we have dedicated people within the district that are willing to walk with me and with the team and to walk with our students to make sure we're including them to make sure that we have policies and practices that support all of our students I'm happy to take questions but I also would say that there's a lot in here that you certainly probably want to look over and read it more depth and I be happy to come back and answer questions uh at a future meeting as I'm I'm always here so question Yeah question for the student learning SE yeah I'll go back um so for the for the resources the pr moning tools so what are we currently doing what do we

066have in place right now so you like like that are those tools that are being used currently or you're looking to I think that we could go more in depth on a lot of the progress monitoring tools what I found in um some of our pbts is that when we're talking about mastering go we have we have data but I'd like to have more data I'd like to have more frequently more frequent probes um you know if we're talking about something like a CBM or just something that can map out and in some cases parents have talked about we talk about being able to chart it out because sometimes you see on an IEP master and they say we we've done this and this this and that's great and that's fine and that's compliant but

067we need to go a step further and say these are the probes these are the dates this is when we we did this and this was the result when we say four out of five times we have the data for I'd like to see it more organized I'd like to see it more systemic across each building and that's why in terms of our work with that advance and my work within con and other and working with directors in other districts talking about how we can deepen our understanding both of uh additional progress monitoring but also make it so that it's useful for parents meaningful for kids and that we can actually show as big progress I think that that last Point um was really an important one and it's clear that a lot of um

068seasoned um and capable mindes developing this this is something stud to come and question absolutely I'm happy to to speak to those at any time um as you know I'm always available to answer these individually Dr or having to do this in public I did just want to make a com just from like briefly looking you know I feel like some of the indicators of success are a little bit I would agree with you I would agree with you okay so is there going to be like more flushing out yes in like a implementation plan yes so in terms of year one of my time in workfield I think this was a year of looking into things investigating listing and and all the things that we've talked about over the course of I think we

069have ideas and now as I end my first year and begin my second year I like you to think of the Strategic plan framework as the ending of chapter chapter one chap was going to be a more detailed look at these things so I would not disagree with you that there there's a vagueness to it because I want to make sure that as we start with the large General ideas that we can drill down and those ongoing updates for you you will be able to see more detail and progress and for me to be able to bring progress Monitor and data and put it up and show you what it looks like versus what it may have looked like before so I I don't disagree with you on on some I think point for example

070organizational process building leaders so what that that number prior right actually one of the on I down like how do you know what's more what's your are youing for percent of PCS to have building Le there like that's something that I think sure i' i' be happy to quantify that I think it's when we look at building Cas loads and sectioning out who does what dbts in my mind I always have a real hard line of we have kids who this would be a good fit we have kids who this I want to make sure that we have uh that the administrators receive proper training in IEPs prior notice and things like that to be able to be fully uh involved members of the team um you know we have supervisors we have me uh

071but we also have principles and assistant principles I'd love to be able to it should be 60 10 I don't know that I can do that but I will say to you that it should be more in each of these following years and I think underpinning of that is providing the confidence through training and legal updates on what is and isn't parts of pbts that administrators can feel as confident in that they might in curriculum or in behavioral strategies or in schedule so that's where I last question um for the resources on page um a lot on time you know where do you anticipate that time I'll talk like meetings and implementation things like that what is that what you mean by time like more professional development or I think I think the time is

072in terms of implementing it in terms of planning it in terms of um we have Dr man and I have talked about where the professional development pieces can can fit in how we can integrate that with general education so we talk about time again B but in terms of being able to have the time being able to use the time wisely and being able to have the time to implement great thank you very much when he manage to share a little bit certainly certainly okay so I think you know you can kind of hear me out I don't miss anything here I think there's something important new for many and it might be new for others in terms of um organizational process and the process in general of how a special education system generally is

073monitored in Connecticut um State Department of Education actively monitors every single school district and they do that through the CTS platform that many of you are aware of it's year two of implementation at the end of year two of implementation um so we measure a lot of program process um through the CPS platform uh so for example um I know folks wonder how are we doing with students who are identified on ANS or outplay students and so for example um we have some updated data from the spring that we could share so in October we give an annual report on students with identified special needs also on our out Ling so for example in October we have 367 ident 365 students uh in our enrollment report identified the special needes that spring update at the

074beginning of April uh happens to be 388 students now seems like that's a big jump but the reality is um we have 14.6% of our students identified with special needs in this district and the average is 6.3 16.3 uh identified in the state out of district is actually trending down in October we had 29 students identified as outplaced students um we right now 27 students are outplaced and and if everything stays the same next year we're looking at 25 students out so we do monitor those numbers quite frequently close attention in addition to that um people might ask about our our IEDs up to date again with ctss they have to be up to date the state department of Ed tracks through ctss every single school district and they provide updates um and compliance reminders

075to case managers and directors and supervisors and so um ours are up to date by 97% are up to date the 3% um aren't necessarily not up to date they're in process of being developed within the 5day window at this point um uh or they're in the referral process um so Bill did a little study we are actually in direct alignment with dur meeting kind of our regional area school dists um are parent meetings happening and are they on time and the answer is yes there's a 45 day mandate for referral of new students um every student in 504 has an annual meeting as well as those students that are up to date for their triangual meeting so they very prescriptive and strict timelines in special education Hearing in that um is required testing completed

076and on time there's another question year um it must be and if it's not we may receive a notification like I was talking about earlier or even a warning from the state department all of this is on a Case by case basis of course um are we in compliance with I are we delivering the service uh we agree to going back to the learning we learn um the answer is yes and of course depending on the progress of the child have meetings with parents to talk about that and if there are necessary adjustments that need to be made made our great educators are here working with families and students to make sure those things happen um and of course um I shared this with the board a couple of weeks ago if a family disagrees

077with what's going on with the school system and we can't come to an agreement there is a very very prescriptive dispute resolution process through the state and uh that talk about it every single meeting it's actually mentioned so it's within all our parents rights it's a very process um and then finally um it's very important to let folks know that the financials for special education I always looked at every month finance committee meetings at Rosa chairs we talk about the special education budget that's most often the case myself um but as needed um Bill our special education director will come and just actually at this past May meeting talking about the current state of affairs and kind of looking forward so none of the information I just shared is is new to the finance um

078so I really do want to kudos to our Educators who done such a great job and really helping and supporting families our families who were involved in planning thank you very much um and to build your leadership and supervisor leadership and make and the board's full support the corre report and strategic planning process um can't thank all of enough so thank you feel that I miss anything these important for organizational big I think I think it it pains the picture of this is where we are this is what we need to do we're not shying a away I'm certainly I certainly have come in with my eyes open with ideas and with the thoughts of collaboration and where we can improve and where we can strengthen what already exists and I think the Strategic plan

079process over the 3 years with updates is going to show you these are where we have specifically improved this is what it looks like now these are the systems and structures that are in place rather than special education can sometimes seem like Alchemy where it's not you know it's hard to confine we wanted to find it for you we want to find it for you for those who are not within working with students and knowing how we do what we do we want to be able to share that just like we share finan just like we share curriculum we want to be able to do that clearly succinctly and and with mindfulness of support of you have answers to why we thank you appreciate thank you John really percent that is there there the average

080is 16 I think it's rate for the state is 16 16.3 is the that's the average across all the districts of special education students within the district and I i' I've heard that more than 20% of students shouldn't have 15% yeah so for those of us who've been in this a while there was a time where if you were over 11% that was a problem um and as testing has gotten deeper as referrals have gotten more um frequent uh and students cilities we been able to identify more of them over the course of time in my my 15% was all was kind of the the The Benchmark I think state has kind of edged up for 60 but if you look at other districts not necessarily dir B but there are districts who are at

08119 20 21% um again it's hard to quantify things like 504 because that's that's a separate thing however um in terms of students needing the support being able to identified for that support it has gone up over 25 years at I've been in special education again it used to be 10 11% was your was your Baseline and it's crept up over over the years in again to where the state is looking at 16.3 we're looking at 14.6 but again individualize it student needs it then that's where okay so um we going move now uh to the um presentation in Spring series from um Dr instruction right well thank you very much folks and good evening to everybody thanks for those who are here and those watching online we have made it to the final episode

082in our series um of uh curriculum inst struct and assessment uh presentation to help kind of CI for board um the different aspects of the Continuum instruction assessment so we're excited to be here tonight um I was really I was listening intently to Mr rand's presentation because there's a lot of alignment and overlap especially in the area of professional development and professional learning um so this varus and I are excited to share with you our final series before we do that we're going to review make sure we're all at the same point of our series kind of Conti the curriculum process how it is reviewed and revised how it serves our students the main focus of our first episode second episode really focused on the connection between curriculum instruction and assessment and that structural core

083um and what the instructional is how it relates to the Continuum how the instructional coaches F into that and then the responsibilities of MERS all the way from the um Educators in classroom through building leadership up through the uh district and so now we have come to the kind of point where we're bringing it all together connecting the Continuum of instruction to evaluation growth and support plan for certified Educators and um it's a little bit of a spoiler Al alert that our June 5th meeting is going to be you're going to be presed with our draft plan for teacher and evaluation leave right this is going to give you a little bit of a pre um and most importantly we want to make sure we're continuously communicating um showing the transparency to the public about

084our intended outcomes of our work in the classroom so I kind of already went through this so I'm not going to necessarily reread everything um but you know our first episode was really focused on that curriculum process finding it figuring out what helping uh flush out what that really looks like and the impact of curriculum directly on our teachers and our students in the classroom um one of the things that debie and I are hoping you will really walk away from walk away with um is that our students are at the center of everything um and everything we do is focus on student centered goals student centered Improvement and making that that experience inro is Meaningful for our that second uh episode around the instruction and our student cach and before I talk about this

085slide that has appeared our episod so certainly going to be in this one as well I just wanted to say that PR to really what we're presenting here was the awesome performance of the students um with mRNA that is really an outcome of a product if you will of curricul instruction teaching right in addition the students that we talking about the FR experience that's another relevant enrichment again of instruction wonderful that you experience all about teaching and learning anyway so Precision of alignment here uh everything that we do in terms of curriculum starts with standard the foundational building blocks we bundle gr the standards in a way that Mak sense and put them across the context of the school year um we then begin to build Curriculum maps we unack or kind of deeper into

086the standards to be able to look at the language and establish [Music] content and again ping outl consistent and a learning exp so in terms of the Precision of the alignment have how do we know learners basically relative to the standards ands learn and those are directly align assessments are directly align to the skills which are directly align to instruction also is precisely aligned in terms of learning targets activities and resources and those are directly aligned Al inaps to align them directly to assessments the skills which are dered directly from standards and alluded to before all with the student in the center because that's who we are here to serve we wanted to make sure we brought that uh that kind a Precision of alignment back for every time um because just like what you

087just heard from strategic plan with the the special education department is really important and are constantly framing everything around our students and our students experience for to realize our mission um and so in this final episode we're going to know we talked about that whole concept of assessment and in that frame that Precision of alignment we're talking about student assessment but um when in this final episode rather than focusing on our mclass uh you know assessments or any of those questions that you know Joy brought up earlier or k any of those things we want to talk about kind of the how an assessment or how uh the Continuum impacts the the educator level so that we kind of continue to focus on students with the center and the Educators right outside that Circle um

088and so we're going to review a little bit of the new guidelines and how they support fre and assessment and instruction of the Connecticut framework for Teacher evaluation which has drastically shifted from where it used to be um when many of you are Educators in Connecticut and we've also heard of uh you know the high high accountability High States uh former process which is called SE um the state has gone away from that and really focus on professional learning and uh goal setting as the the focus of the new evaluation system which is a perfect model for student assessment as well more experiential and more Project based Focus so that we can really get offer students the opportunity to display their learning and um be uh kind of leaders of their own learning and demonstration

089of assessment so this kind of teacher or this adult uh focus is a really nice Exemplar for how students could also experience um and so but but in order to prepare for that I we want to make sure that we reviewed the guidelines went through our process that our professional development and evaluation committee went through um and then kind of illustrate how that learning will directly connect the professional growth goals and completely support what you just heard from the special education strategia plan along with our own comprehensive District um so just kind of to reflect back on what we've talked about before the the other nice thing you know I love that kind of you know alignment and cure um this the whole concept of this is this continuous cycle of improvement right so successful

090organizations do Embrace that continuous Improv we talked about it through the um the uh accrediting body we use fortive assessing practice use portfolio work all with students we're going to be moving that into that with adults as well shows up um and so you know that concept here's this you know this continuous this continuity of curriculum assessment and instruction that is again we know we have that student um Precision of alignment it's how people we want we want to connect all these things for all Learners in our learning commun so this is a continu instructional learn and assessment um and we're talking a little bit about adult learning perod here which is slightly different Student Learning child um as you see again didn't even collaborate orate never spoken about these s but it's about meaningful

091professional development that is uh based on Student Center goals and and directed by the teachers or the Educators so that's what the difference between um what kind used to be and what so when professional development was done to people this is now done by this is going to be done by Educators and that's how this work very so the new connec state department education guidelines basically hasion the whole entire thing but basically an opportunity to continue St so you can hear in this episode three that we're talking a lot about continuous learning feedback and professional world as a modeless um so there were some non-negotiables in the guidelines um and some 92s in the guidelines um where nonn was the requir to use standard rubric to be able to focus on student Cent goals um

092to have regular meetings observations practice um our initial draft will be ready for um implementation in the 2024 202 school year coming um and really I'll talk about next um we really the process start here mindset shift from compliance checking the boxes you know Observer comes in observes we go through a conversation to really all about learning and professional Learning System that then again is supporting that prision of alignment where we have the curriculum instruction assessment students in theer so everything starts from Student Center goals if you recall in episode when we talk about the instructional core and our instructional coaches they work on Student Center goals in partnership with te everything students so the um the committee special development evaluation committee um we started with the days training we worked with those guidelines which

093a little and models and we basically to certainly as framework guidance one of the awesome things that came process as well was that the conversation started to move toward um excitement toward professional and Lear OPP where we even were looking at the language we using in the to talk about reciprocal conversations um between teacher uh educator and leader um and and reciprocal feedback as well so that everyone is learning right administrators are learning teachers are learning and kids which is one them so we have alignment of learning okay so you saw you heard about that alignment of learning cycles and as debie said you know the beauty of this is that um it's kind of it systems within system right so that reciprocal relationship that's developed between teacher or groups of teachers and an evaluator

094um where they can set a common goal together after looking at stud data anding as that student data aligns to our strategic plan um and is and and is filtered through the school Improvement plan um everything will this will create this alignment um much more naturally and organically um and so it's really been Sous about how we have worked over the last couple years part of it is from the flexibilities that we approved last that the board approved last year um where we were wer quite so constrained with that compliance mode of SE model teachers really can focus on um you know student U emotional social emotional learning or they could think about you know they can set their goals based on what was presented to them with their students so that they could have

095meaningful goals um so they're kind of poised and ready for this next step which is a little bit more structured but definitely going to be uh requiring teachers to really consider what it is that where they need to grow as Educators based on the information that is presented to them from their student uh data and experiences that they have with students so those goals will be focused on student centered data and then how are they going to create a professional learning plan that helps them realize those goals um and again one of the things I think is uh really masterful about this plan is that this is exactly where we want to get our students to be where they can start leading their not only leading their learning but deciding on how they're going to

096demonstrate how they're going to get there and how they're going to actually demonstrate um this is actually a a um a visual from from the learning forward framework mentioned standard space and uh rubric align so the Frameworks that we are aligning our plan to called learning forward and um this visual kind of shows that then diagram about regard profession Lear and of course we're going to Rel to the Strategic plan which really you know I mean the most important thing here for our our teachers and for our Educators and our administrators is to inspire challenges also meaningful and productive lives and if teachers and educators are experiencing that themselves then that will transcend what they're going through into their student everyday experience so that is really our goal with this um and again kind of

097thinking back across January since you here presenting this episode to you that this all is within the framework of instruction assessment really keeping our students at the center and thinking about how they can have the meing experience thank you for your and we are come um I kind of have a question comment um all due respect think disappointed I thought was the Imp that this anyone else I thought that was part two series um we did ask comeback from that like that that's continue the next we understood that the um questions about instructural coaches when we talk about that um April so we certainly are there are specific questions [Music] ofu [Music] instruction will stud goals individual teers team create student goals and that F directly with the standard [Music] to support the professional learning

098that's important parcel of the professional grow and we certainly can put a talk a presentation discussion about the instruction coaches if we get specifics on what you're looking for more than happy what was very specific in the past they said it would be nice to have data or raw information see to have it be measurable some extent to see how well it's going examples of how to utilize the program you know just real dat that was the impression understand that I going to be a presentation on that given the last episode I might be able to help you out but I'm not was a while ago first started with instruction Coes we did at some point on the reive data precisely how many year something like that and we had um wish I could find

099it but um several data points that in the beginning you knowers were or how toti it instruction can in particular um maybe what topics I think we had some sort of um I don't know they were something like had were able to search for or they were able to like request more [Music] we also you're exactly right we talked about in the first session second session before um and we do I we were able to gather some data from the coaches going into that section that second um uh presentation and I don't believe that we actually got to those slides but we have them but I have them and I'm I think that probably the best thing to do is share with the committee so that I can then bring them back and share them

100informational follow so but I love to go over that with um and so that we that I we are sure I was to say to kind of follow up I one of the things you talked about was maybe getting teacher data and you were teacher feedback and you were going to kind of visit how like weren't sure how that was possible or what that looked like but I know that was one of the things we also kind of explored getting some kind ofor no no speaking out L Thinking Out L that was just going pieces there so excuse me the data that we canly is focus on you know that that protocol that Debbie was referring to um as far as um know have comments fromers question um it could go large but um when

101you talk about professional learning for educators you are talking dog right like not content wise like be a better more effective teacher of poetry by you know critical engagement ineducation had a Dodge it well it's it yes and um it's going to be it's going to really depend on next year um you're going to see when you see the draft plan um it's really going to be like we said Minds sh and teachers are really going to have to learn um the Frameworks and shift from the completely Quan appro used to do to the more experiential approach and philosoph apprach how am I going to right now first how do I know that those are the needs and that is where the instructional coach com [Music] adity that's one of the things are only and

102so we need to make providing that same of support with how what kind of inform at um and how am I going to frame out a really meaningful professional learning go so that I can then build my professional learning experience um throughout the year 3K 12 um and so instructional is inclusive of instruction coaches and the administrators in charge of teaching and learning of us um and building um so that's going in terms of helping make that mindset shift um it may be content there may be a Content piece to it um but going have to training that has to happen so for example special education going to continue to have to be training provided during some of that professional Lear time but professional learning um shouldn't only just be making sure that we're spending

103time or giving teachers time to get things accomplished that there's definitely a need question time like um that we need to be very intentional about setting about how we're organizing that time so that we have get the compliance stuff done figure out the actual tasks that done but then also how are they growing as a professional students of that time and then to grow after year after teacher shouldn't just the educator shouldn't just have their formal education the only time actually Lear Chang drastically from the90s when I was train have are [Music] support it's more of an ongoing sustained Le experence [Music] studa all my students how am [Music] iel so something that actually be sustained and then we can also me me [Music] want to be a to so I just need I just

104need [Music] not in a school building any um so teachers came through are creating these goals and collaborate their own C instructional they might they're not be okay so who who sort of assesses whether those gos are I know there standards and but who sort of says yes this is an appropriate challenging that your students that's two different plans there's the leaders the administrators and the Educators and so the evaluators just like in the former forever um the one of the roles of an administrator is to evaluate um but rather than it being a summed sus which used to be the case part that high accountability process have now gone by the way there's no more Su so um it is not a goal accomplishment of a goal is not tied to final sum agreement

105the accomplishment of a goal is reciprocated agreement that this is how I'm going to find the and this this evaluation tool goes all the way from State and so we are all going to be setting our goal focusing oning studenter or learner Center data um so I will use data from the and ADR work to set i'm to improve my own practice is there a certain number or is that also training training in that process over the summer addition to that to very crystal clear the answer the administrators who supervise group or subject Area Teachers [Music] Anyan it's the process of how the goal is set and how the goal is measured and is goal is set based again reoc andat and then there are multiple check beginning mle end ofing on is that is

106about connection that Focus meucat October learning day own still frame for profar on Friday our con I don't mean to put you on the spot but could you give an example of maybe like go teer so for example like said I am a third grade teacher and I really think that based on the I have 20 kids previous year that had a variety of different needs and I really felt like I needed to work on my differentiation my capacity for differentiation KS at the same time being able toate between the way that instru this group need small gr instruction this group needs more te instruction that grp is more autom how do I orate all that how do I work on that instructional approach goal on becoming better at differentiating instruction because of that data

107student dat um then I might say part of my goal to go into a 6 to coaching cycle with truly gone um how to improve my differentiation so I'm know students particular tool I'm going set the go work through the enti only be one of my I'm also going to be with my administrator ask my administrator Adat to give me feedb on that we talk about post obervation we talk about that feedb gret of ways go and you do a m assment and have because one part down and then couple and I'm practice where I am working with my colleagues all my I to talk about myat all of this information all of this data in my platform to demonstrate that I have worked for I might you know what I didn't get everything I

108want still need work this that's to or maybe I got a whole colleagues that are also really interested so my be help going to be more become more proficient as a teacher leer help so with that being said is there a way for us for you to know how many teachers arees it's not in that process um so as we go forward we can certainly happy to we have dat that I can certainly share that out and this year um and if that is something that interested in seeing next year we can certainly talk about the number of coaching cycles and one of the things that happens with coaches is this is not just a one coaches don't teacher so I can tell you that the instructional coaches in this building have worked with probably

109every single teacher bu something the year whether it is incorporating math or it is running standards but when J works with she may work with the entire team for onoc change but um so the instruction coaches are working with teachers every day across the as Asal instructional c um and thens coaching doesn't have to just happen one like I and lovely thing is that this B allows set go as aou so you have the entire second grade you know uh c teacher says we all need to work on differentiation we're all going to go throughing CLE with because we're Focus Ona sence that's my next question is how do you if a teacher not seeking need to work the entire second C how does that like who this talk little about [Music] plcc this year

110part of a grade level thatc a couple of examples social studies worked withen [Music] team science teachers a lot ofing [Music] exporation for us to that so those are just a few examples top of my head ma ma instruction coach five [Music] teachers planul learning plans and then also to imp of some of the centers that helping middle scho so they work with the teacher teams incs as well as some individual teachers analy data so the student goals areer around data so data informs those students at your goals strategies such as differentiation strategy that you may use and have fur Lear on in order to impact of specific data informed student to Center go so I don't know if thats at all speak to the secondary so as debb alluded to the conru only SCH

111andru coaches as well as science and social so they expand um are working with teachers on a regular basis and some are doing individual coaching cyes some teachers are doing individual coaching Cycles all teachers are working with um their their respective coach in their content area um either their department meeting time or their after school time um schedu a little bit different of the Middle School um but again through looking at all those pieces and then in the high school where we don't have coaches but we have content administrators they are doing the same kind of thing actually almost previewing um this model uh by working in partnering with teachers and groups of teachers and looking at data so for example Andrew pH really focusing on um taking data and trying to um figure out

112different ways to uh to change things and adjust things with specific teachers and then across the the um the whole school which then results in things such as suggestion right so you kind of see how system starts working together Andis tools are students support thank you very muches to the next item on the [Music] agenda of the district yes exactly this is um the deadline Marchand to the information is with the state now the app process usually here in early July are there any questions or discussion this approve disal of us f equipment currently being stored at PHS in compliance with policy 326 s and disposal of books I you know very expensive condition um it's always been a part of our vision to um improve our facilities as far as work goes that being

113our con um personally work it's graceful it's embarrassing um are better so that is a core of what would be part of the concession plan so there's got to be out of Bo thinking you know maybe there's a room taken out of town hall at the equipment um you know I don't know a person that volunteered to St I don't know anything about that but I heard that comments know more about that um there's got to be a solution come out to preserve this equipment that's so expensive and valuable um and to put it to the way side that we had a plan for not that plan up so I would word disos let's he what you thank you for that because that's I feel like the um the the issue like the Suns off

114alarm BS when the policy is called disposal of o equipment um the policy does speak to the process by which the Board of Education as as a governing body right um sort of relinquishes its responsibility and its ownership of this equipment it does not mean that we are going to be shipping it to the dep by any means at all um and and so so in in in my sort of ification of this whole background of what happened here with um how this this uh storage container came to be um and it is situated on the black top of um outside of the athletic Wing at BHS um that I think was previously used as a basketball um work which it can't be utilized um for the purpose that it was intended because this um

115storage equipment is there there storage units there um and so in in learning about how this um came came to be stored is a lot of equipment um I don't know the exact value of it um it is being brought to the board for approval um under this policy because an aggregate it likely is more than $5,000 um it is also only as valuable as someone is willing to pay for it um and so and I say that in a good way because if it were to go to a public sale um you know I don't know that we would you know hold out for a $200,000 B bid for this equipment so I I don't want people to get worri that um this is a really costly investment that you know nonprofit group would

116have to make in order to take ownership of this equipment um but in in understanding um why this event came to be I think there was conversation between perhaps the athletic department and um Boer clubs and parents that this is an opportunity to if there is a need at the concession stand um on the exterior part of the building by the fields um to upgrade that area this opportunity to not have to go out and buy all of this industrial commercial uh commercial equipment um and assessing it from you know I I work for the Board of Education and um and your responsibility as a board of education looking at the needs of the entire Community yes um if that project were to move forward I don't know that it would be under the purpose

117of the Board of Education to invest in a project to redo the concession stand and I think the conversation earlier um last year was that perhaps it would be a parks and Bre project um again then the project would be a capital project that would be overseen by the NBC um and they would have to have the SC report and what that looks like so I did reach out to uh Parks direct to determine do you do you see this in the near future because we do have this equipment and certainly we want you want it to be put to the for the larger Community um they did have any plans in in to near future to invest in a in a a project for a concession stand um that being said I looked at

118the policy um that the board of education does have have to dispose of um obsolete equipment that is no longer needed by the Board of Education and it does have a very prescriptive um way of making sure that this equipment would get in the hands of any Town agency that could use it um and so we would first reach out to any other Town departments fire departments libraries any any other Town um department and see if they they had a need for it and it would first go there if there isn't a need in any other Town department or agency then it would go to um to community groups and organizations so that would include the poster Club um and and they would absolutely have the right of first refusal for this equipment um the

119key is you know prioritizing capital projects and Facilities the committee knows this all so well when we look at the capital plans and and we have you know bathrooms that want to get upgraded we have rooms that need to be replaced and um I I don't know um at least from where I assess sort of the needs of the facilities that that a a capital project for a renovation of the concession stand while valuable for that Athletics and the experience of that and and certainly the volunteers that use that space don't know it's something that I would bring as a recommendation to the facilities committee um but certainly I would want this equipment to get into the hands of those that could benefit from it that being said um Dr BR and I did speak

120with um Mr Dunn because originally then my my thought was well we have an empty building that used to be used as a school that is not being used anymore can we just move the equipment and store it at um Center School and we spoke with um the Fire Marshall and and unfortunately because the sprinkler system in that building has um been dismantled and is no longer able to be used that can't be used as to store this equipment however Mr dun said certainly the storage unit itself could be moved to you know the back lot in Center School so it's off of school grounds um the only issue that becomes paying for paying for the storage of that of that unit um it's not iCal amount by any means it is not in the

121budget for next year it is under $2,000 um annually to keep this storage container um if that's the board of EDS perview to continue paying for that storage that is that is your that is up to you um I just don't know you know looking at how long capital projects take I don't know how long that goes on um we would have to just you know move that in a in a budget change at some point but um again certainly any community group um in Brookfield um if the town department does not want it first um would absolutely have the right to um just another point of clarity if you could help us out um I know my nine years here a concession stand has not been a priority it was not a formalized project

122it's a worthy project for sure for us to consider um but it's not on the capital plan so there's no plan near future so this is kind of the Genesis of uh the motion coning ever to your point we could store it in the back of Center School we can incur the cost and and then wait and if the board wants to move on a concession stand we could have that discussion and make that you know a facilities committee and come forward with the court and add that as one of our goals and priorities certainly can do that at the high school it's just not one of our priorities it's not on the capital plan um and so there was conversation outside of the process of the municipal building committee Parks and Rec in Board

123of Education and Facilities committee for a concession stand and so understandably people got excited about this and the opportunity with this exact policy a year ago when we uh exited hulberry and the portal of whis skir and also um mov down to Center School we went through the whole disposal process the board approved this process for all the different equipment burn was in there so we don't have to move on this if the board thinks it better to pause for graduation Mr has requested that we do get that container off of the high school property um and Mr put it on the back of Center School he's worked with DPW and uh facilities U for for the town it's okay to put it back there be locked and that gives us more time to have

124a discussion about what our priority going for we're happy to do that that's it's really important for people to understand never concession was never aard SCH building comme project just only the only way for it to [Music] happen yeah we we went forward after I think one of the reason wasn't Capital project there was a plan in place and we had volunteer contractors people willing to put the structure up they don't know the whole story but whatever yeah I was just going to say that um it it sounds like if there is the opportunity to wait on this um before voting on it so that I just want to understand what the vote would be if we if we if we approve this what is the next step what would happen that's question y so

125then I would reach out to uh all the town departments and let them know that there is this pitch equipment that is um the board education and they are disposing of it um and if anybody is interested at all um they can come take a look they can look at the equipment if they need it they may have it um if it if it's transferred between Town agencies Town departments then it's it's transfer at no cost um and how long um Ian it's costing $2,000 to store account for the year more than little under under okay when does that expire it's month with it's month yeah and I'm not and I'm not sure Dr had a question not sure if the container can be moved with the equipment in it so there maybe some additional

126costs incurred with getting that um getting it emptied getting it moved getting the equipment over to um CES I'm not sure about the logistics of that but there could be additional C Cur there I'm not sure CU it's really just put in there and stored it's not secured you know in place I just wanted to thank you for the long explanation your explanation simple it's very to see that phally responsible um my question was basically the same as which it kind of It kind of seems to me that if we vot um if we vote in the affirmative for this it just forces other um entities to to take to take on it really just keeps the cost with us while other entities can figure out what they want to [Music] do so it seems

127if if we if we table it can you still reach out to the agencies or it's not is that not a possibility out informally yes um certainly informally um an option I think um but there's no there's no formality that you can say you know they can't take it would be right but it would buy us some time what's that it would buy us some time yeah I mean what I'm saying is it would we have to pay for the storage regardless and if the board is is considering here that concession stand is a priority then we need to make that plan that is a priority equipment I agree with that a concession stand becomes a priority and we actually a pen and paper and make it a plan that we're adding a concession stand

128to BHS campus which I is absolutely worthy idea that we can definitely use that we could use I talked early on uh in the school project uh discussions about um permanent bathroom facilities concession you know on the other side of the track dist there's area over there fi so there's a lot of ideas we get estimates years ago of $100,000 plus um for the capital plan just for design of such a facility so we can do that if it's aard priority has that's the reason this priority so whatever the board would like to do we are happy to do personally that seems more resp to create a plan don't even this is just an idea on the table conc say realistically it's at least 2 years away Meanwhile we're going to store this stuff that's

129depreciating value every single month we're going to be moving this thing from one po to the other that seems ridiculous to me so I I would honestly say if you want a take a and we V to relish control of that's really ESS what right control and if they want it they want it I'll second [Music] they use their own new equipment so yeah that's not that's not I don't think that's for un it's a det neily yeah I don't know and and I think certainly um if if any if the booster club or any other organization wants this wants this equipment I I imagine there would be they would have the same opportunity to you know take this storage unit and place it behind Center School I think there would certainly be some you

130know working part to do that support wi we to move it to school to away graduation because to get people to come look all that so it's all going to depend on how the how it can be moved we would have to reach out to The Container company to find out I mean it is it's a shipping unit so these these units are shipped with product and and equipment in it normally right on these big cargo ships and trucks and everything so it's just a matter of making sure you know that they they would handle securing the the equipment and trans transporting it to location that would have to do we' have to reach out to companies ter that so [Music] uman like so that that would be that town agencies who have first track

131at it would say no within the 10day window it's articulated in this Poli onto so and I wonder challenging it would be for independent citizens to get in and like insur I I do not I don't seems like's organ that but we we can't just I mean we have [Music] to we're assuming they want current right now they want that project going to happen so in the metime are store and iore we've over far less $3,000 year [Music] theing equipment that we we don't need it as a so I don't understand why we are paying a single more toore on the options some other need it I think I think there's a way through this and and part of this is do we want to vote to dispose of it which basically frees it up

132for action and then then to out agencies and begin this process and that's when um folks who are interested in um making something happen so we questions you guys like to take motion we have motion right now I to say we paid bill for God knows how many years in anticipation for the bo lo project how long has that project over years P that right and we anticipated notal a plan in place to do it I'm not sure what brought alling but I think that is something that needs you guys are not in the disposal I would just suggest you because so um all in favor so let me just recap the motion on the motion on Flor is that we approve the disposal of used kitchen equipment currently being P ascy 32 all in

133favor say I um all by saying n n all right so we're going to move now to item the I move that the board request contingency funding from the boards of Selectmen and finance for the 2023 24 budget in the amount of 67432 as recommended by the finance sorry Finance is there any discuss a lot of concern um now to business what we're going to talk about I the board approved the reduction adjustments to the 20242 budget in the amount of $728,000 38 as recommended by the finance subcommittee and that the board adopt its budget in the amount of 52 mil 89659 a 4.99% increase over the current budget as voted on of the May 21st 2024 to budget record so for our next section of comment um wel comment have up to minutes to

134provide board um discussion of school personel indiv for individual MERS of in Korea 45 West Road um I just wanted to give a follow up on your discussion with the kitchen equipment it never showed up on any Capital project it was 100% donation and it was going to be turned over to the parks and rec the plan there was a plan to run conduit and water lines to it when the field was going to be redone last year that was cut from the budget and it was never put in that's when we haveall the project because now we have to figure where all that went um so I uh just wanted to let you know that's why it's not on capital budget it was called be 100% R by funds we had uh people in

135town donating concrete block um all the conduit for electrical electricians going to do the work the plumbers were going to do the work we had roofing material we had to raise funds for the concrete pad and toilets and sinks that's what we um so what I wanted to talk about I we came here tonight was from the also Special Report I just wanted to share that this school year compared to last year has been late night day um Talk many different special ed teachers and they told me that Mr Rand talk tonight that he's in the building he's in the classroom he's talking kids the staff um he is very open to feedback and I'll tell you the last nine years with pbts I probably had my best PPT this past year for my my

136T um there's still a lot of work to do uh but the teachers really need to identify and give these students the you know the plans they need to succeed even though it's a threee you know strategic you can't tell a second grader that in 3 years we going to have your plan you be ready to go and you're in fifth grade because you know what that does and it's one of the things that was in the presentation C your confidence if you can't read if you can't do math properly your confidence is down and you will not succeed and that's in the classroom and out of the classroom um as response to CT saids it is good in the fact that I will get some other random kids to find Fe which has happened

137um by em and by and way pass um but a lot of it also it does not show the documentation any of you that many of your teachers or if you have your I and it says six out of eight trials and it shows the documentation sometimes the teachers don't always have that um and there's a wide range I have one specialed teacher she whips out the binder and I mean she's she's the post her child for documentation other ones it's like they're like they show piece of paper like this and I'm like that's what you have for trials um there's a wide range and I think that's part of the that all together to have all the teachers like the B um so that's what I just wanted to point out and feedb and

138thanks Network [Music] they forch of volunteers to come up they just can't right they also can't just show up and get a bu of so that get disos it's gone it's painful teachers talk about teaching is going to work next year too work in months there's no math wait a month month it but they'll never be that was just decision could learn more wait instead just most what Happ don't know what you're doing [Music] theor administ said follow along State Department of Education doesn't prod District say it's appropriate right we parents set up a program a meeting Vision show up and they don't school psychologist you have to Res no this district is not La administ is not La somebody tells you they're thank you Mr they're lying to you thank you Mr okay so

139we're going to move uh now to um uh so I have the finance budget uh special did you want to add something [Music] so you feel right um okay thanks so this concludes the other portion of of discussing unaffiliated cont strategy to thanks everyone